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Shem's Shadows
Shem's Shadows (or more colloquially called "the Shadows") are the most notorious group of assassins and thieves in all of Siladea. The group was started by infamous assassin Shem Bliffwin to establish his legacy at the start of his retirement. Since then, it has grown to one of the most prominent thieves guilds on the material plane. ---- History Starting around 350 A.F., the city of Day's End was decimated after the events of the Faustian War. In the rubble, Shem Bliffwin saw an opportunity to set up the greatest black market the world had known. Shem established reign over the city, formed a pact with the Midvale Mages, and in the rubble started his thieves guild. For about 50 years the town was primarily a disorganized black market, which created a problem as it was avoided by all but the most serious of adventurers. Part of the chaos was due to Shem himself being tapped by Mikhail as lieutenant for Avernus, and cleaning up the first layer from the failed battles of the Blood War. However, after this task was finished; Shem, having now taken on a fiendish appearance, turned his attention back to the guild. It was decided, as with the best assassin's, the Shem's Shadows would need to hide in plain sight. The town was reestablished as a trading metropolis, inviting back all the best merchant families with a good faith promise of guild protection at no cost. The thieves guild relocated underground, to a series of ancient caverns under the city, where it now had access to a cornucopia of goods and services from the surface above. The thieves thrived, and the organization continues to be the most popular places to go for black market goods, espionage, burglary, or assassination. ---- Headquarters The guild's headquarters is located in the city of Day's End in Midvale. The guild keeps scouting patrols along the outskirts of the borders around the entire city; though anyone approaching would be hard pressed to spot them, as the scouts are often hidden or disguised as merchants. Most travelers can come and go as they please, but these subtle sentries allow the guild to gather information about current goings on in the city as well as make the leadership aware of any big ticket names or items that may be making a visit there. The guild is laid out in a series of vast caverns covering the entire city. The caverns are said to belong to ancient dwarves that set up a mine in the city to harvest blended quartz that was bountiful in the area from thousands of years ago when the region still had significant volcanic activity (the blended quartz is the leading hypothesis as to why the mages chose this location for the Midvale Academy in the first place). Locations of the entrances to the cavern are closely held secrets, but it is said that the central cavern can be reached from entering a large maar located in the heart of the city. Anyone who finds that they have accidentally entered the caverns would be foolish to poke around without a guide. Some of the passages are ancient and could collapse with the slightest disturbance. Others are lined with traps to guard against intruders; or worse, diverse gardens filled with poisonous plant life, including black lotus flowers. The main headquarters building is hidden within the caverns and known to only the most prominent members of the guild's leadership. From the outside, it looks just like the other buildings used frequently by the guild, but once inside the structure utilizes extradimensional space to create what seems like a mansion. The hall is decorated to be extremely posh, and would make even the finest of courtiers feel out of place. The manor also has the finest wards to block its members against divination and it is even speculated that the entrance magically changes from building to building at random times as a security measure. The main entrance to the headquarters also has a secret known to only a handful of Shem's most powerful advisers, it's actually a two way portal that leads seamlessly to Avernus (the first layer of the nine hells). This allows Shem to conveniently go back and forth between the two planes. Entering a door on the rear wall would take you to Shem's outpost in Baator, where he performs his duties as top lieutenant to the layer's ruler. The molten caverns and underground environment make the two sides of the portal almost indistinguishable to a layman. ---- Membership Membership to the guild is by invitation only, with potential recruits being "tapped" by a prominent guild member once the decision to recruit is made. Though rogues who are heavily acquainted with the guild may try to jump start this process by suggesting they would make a good member, this is highly frowned upon. No one knows where guild leadership gets the names of its recruits, but the vetting process must be severe as no potential recruit has ever demonstrated a lack of skill or ill intentions. One a rogue is tapped, they are given a series of tests to determine if they are eligible for recruitment. The tests are secret and depend on the rogue's specialty (for instance, assassins may be required to kill someone for no reason but to join the assassin's), but bards claim that the first test is to plunge into the central maar; a drop that is said to be over 300 ft, with no clear line of sight to the bottom. Recruits are expected to leap without question, and even the slightest caution (such as dropping a torch to measure the distance) is grounds for disqualification. ---- The Black Lotus Society Seldom whispered about in the halls of the most vile of taverns and guild holds are four words that even the most seasoned thieves quickly dismiss with a shudder: the Black Lotus Society. The branch serves as the guild's top tier cabinet of assassins. Though it's members are known by virtually no one, if one were to infiltrate the incredibly secret circle they would find Shem Bliffwin himself and the rhakshasa Mikhail to be among the handful. There is no direct way to hire a member of the Black Lotus Society. If a person wished to employ them for an assassination, an action that would be considered overkill for most, the only way to do it would be a dark prayer to to deity Vecna. If the god of secrets finds the target appropriate, he will pass the name on to the society who will choose an appropriate member to contact the client. Those wishing to hire a member of the Black Lotus Society should do so with caution; if Vecna finds the target insulting or if the client is lacking in a form of payment, they may find that their next sip of wine has a very bitter taste to it...